Spontaneous Extrusion Troubles

[Astrauk]

Ok so I've had my Makergear M2 for a good bit now, a couple months I believe. I got the kit and assembled it over the course of a day, then spent the next few days calibrating it. I have managed to print great with it using both Cura and Simplify3D. Currently I'm using Simplify3D. Suddenly out of the blue after a normal print, everything started going wrong. The z stop and bed leveling were totally off, extrusion wouldn't work properly, layers wouldn't stick. I have been working at fixing this for over 10 hours now, I finally managed to re-level the bed right (I think I just screwed that up when I assembled it originally), then after much trial and error I finally got the z stop correctly setup and working. But try as I might I cannot figure out these extrusion problems. Basically it will start out extruding just fine, but after a layer or two it will just stop. I thought it might be the retraction settings or extrusion settings so I tried messing with those, but I'm still pretty new to the software and this printer. If anyone has run into similar issues and has a fix or can give me advice that would be fantastic, thanks. Oh and I print in PLA.

[jdacal]

I would suggest trying the rsilver profiles, they helped me a lot when I first started:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:269637

And re-check your Z which even when I thought I had it perfect usually wasn't.

And last but not least, zip up your S3D profile and upload it. Those here that know a whole lot more than me can usually look at them and make some very good suggestions.

Also, are you using any adhesive on the glass?

[Astrauk]

I'll take a look at the profiles, thanks. Yea I've checked and rechecked my Z countless times, the first layer prints great, it's just after that, that the extrusion fails. Good idea about uploading my S3D profile, I'll do that. And I'm using painters tape which I adjusted the Z for.

[Bratag]

I'll take a look at the profiles, thanks. Yea I've checked and rechecked my Z countless times, the first layer prints great, it's just after that, that the extrusion fails. Good idea about uploading my S3D profile, I'll do that. And I'm using painters tape which I adjusted the Z for.

Are you using new filament by any chance? Or filament from a new provider. Ive had issues (not with the M2 but other printers) where large variations in the diameter of the filament caused extrusion issues. Also have you checked your extruder tension? Too tight can flatten the filament and cause problems - too loose and it can slip and you have the same.

[PcS]

I had that exact same issue once and it ended up being a slightly melted clogged peek insulator. Might be worth a check ?

[Astrauk]

I did recently switch filaments. When I ran into all the problems I was printing with black Makergear PLA, then I thought maybe that was the issue randomly (even though it was printing just fine before), so I switched to Hatchbox Red PLA (which prints great on my Printrbot Metal Simple), and that is when I ran into the really bad extrusion problems, after you mentioned that, I switched back and managed to get almost all the way through a 4 and a half hour print, though there was some weird line issues going on. At around 40 min left on the print, it randomly stopped extruding all together, and the part which has 4 line thick walls, with a 15% infill I could break apart in hand at the various weird lines. I'm attaching a pic of what it looked like and my Simplify3D profile. I've been working on this for about two days now, all day, so like 20 hours with little progress (other then getting the bed finally leveled right and the Z stop at the right height). It's all starting to really piss me off haha.

[jimc]

if i was you i would make 2 changes to see what happens. #1 change your perimeters to outside first then inside. your parts will be a bit more accurate and the outer surface wont be affected by the inside extrusion. i get slightly cleaner walls that way. inside then outside is great if you have a part with alot of steep overhangs. #2 your temp is a little low. especially with the fan on. try it at 220 and see what it looks like. its probably having a tough time pushing out the filament. remember the temp will run different than your printerbot.

[Astrauk]

Alright I'll try that, yea I usually have the temp at 215, I actually forget why I lowered it down.

[jsc]

Two things strike my eye:

1. Your "fast" layer height is 0.3mm. That is on the margin of what your nozzle will realistically be able to handle. .20 or .25 at most is more common.
2. Your temperature is 200 for PLA. Try warmer. My stock PLA temp is 225.

Oh, I see jimc already said #2.

[Astrauk]

Thanks for the help guys, I switch the outline to outside-in and changed the nozzle temp to 225 and it's all working great now.